Job 14
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
14 Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries.
2 Who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same state.
3 And dost thou think it meet to open thy eyes upon such an one, and to bring him into judgment with thee?
4 Who can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed? is it not thou who only art?
5 The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with thee: thou hast appointed his bounds which cannot be passed.
6 Depart a little from him, that he may rest, until his wished for day come, as that of the hireling.
7 A tree hath hope: if it be cut, it groweth green again, and the boughs thereof sprout.
8 If its root be old in the earth, and its stock be dead in the dust:
9 At the scent of water, it shall spring, and bring forth leaves, as when it was first planted.
10 But man when he shall be dead, and stripped and consumed, I pray you where is he?
11 As if the waters should depart out of the sea, and an emptied river should be dried up:
12 So man when he is fallen asleep shall not rise again; till the heavens be broken, he shall not awake, nor rise up out of his sleep.
13 Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell, and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a. time when thou wilt remember me?
14 Shall man that is dead, thinkest thou, live again? all the days in which I am now in warfare, I expect until my change come.
15 Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee: to the work of thy hands thou shalt reach out thy right hand.
16 Thou indeed hast numbered my steps, but spare my sins.
17 Thou hast sealed up my offences as it were in a bag, but hast cured my iniquity.
18 A mountain falling cometh to nought, and a rock is removed out of its place.
19 Waters wear away the stones, and with inundation the ground by little and little is washed away: so in like manner thou shalt destroy man.
20 Thou hast strengthened him for a little while, that he may pass away for ever: thou shalt change his face, and shalt send him away.
21 Whether his children come to honour or dishonour, he shall not understand.
22 But yet his flesh, while he shall live, shall have pain, and his soul shall mourn over him.
Job 14
Complete Jewish Bible
14 “A human being, born from a woman,
lives a short, trouble-filled life.
2 He comes up like a flower and withers away,
flees like a shadow, doesn’t last.
3 You fix your eyes on a creature like this?
You drag him to court with you?
4 Who can bring what is pure from something impure?
No one!
5 Since his days are fixed in advance,
the number of his months is known to you,
and you have fixed the limits which he can’t cross;
6 look away from him, and let him be;
so that, like a hired worker,
he can finish his day in peace.
7 “For a tree, there is hope
that if cut down, it will sprout again,
that its shoots will continue to grow.
8 Even if its roots grow old in the earth
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.
10 But when a human being grows weak and dies,
he expires; and then where is he?
11 Just as water in a lake disappears,
as a river shrinks and dries up;
12 so a person lies down and doesn’t arise —
until the sky no longer exists;
it will not awaken,
it won’t be roused from its sleep.
13 “I wish you would hide me in Sh’ol,
conceal me until your anger has passed,
then fix a time and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
I will wait all the days of my life
for my change to come.
15 You will call, and I will answer you;
you will long to see what you made again.
16 Whereas now you count each step of mine,
then you will not keep watch for my sin.
17 You will seal up my crime in a bag
and cover over my iniquity.
18 “Just as a mountain erodes and falls away,
its rock is removed from its place,
19 the water wears away its stones,
and the floods wash away its soil,
so you destroy a person’s hope.
20 You overpower him, and he passes on;
you change his appearance and send him away.
21 His children earn honor, but he doesn’t know it;
or they are brought low, but he doesn’t notice.
22 He feels pain only for his own flesh;
he laments only for himself.”
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Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.